Consider, for example, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus or the like which is used to perform diagnosis or the like to evaluate the IMT (Intima-Media Thickness) of the blood vessel.
Medical image diagnosis is to visually perform diagnosis by observing the medical images acquired and displayed by a medical image diagnostic apparatus such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, X-ray computed tomography apparatus, magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, X-ray diagnostic apparatus, or nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatus. For example, ultrasonic image diagnosis is to visually diagnose a tumor or the like by observing the ultrasonic images acquired and displayed by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In this case, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is designed to acquire biological information by transmitting the ultrasonic pulses generated from the transducers provided in an ultrasonic probe into the body of an object and receiving the reflected ultrasonic waves generated by acoustic impedance differences in the object tissue via the transducers. This apparatus can display image data in real time by the simple operation of bringing the ultrasonic probe into contact with the surface of the body, and hence is widely used for morphological diagnosis and functional diagnosis of various organs.
Recently, diagnosis to evaluate the IMT of the blood vessel has been performed by using, for example, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In general, this diagnosis is executed in the following manner. First of all, the operator finely adjusts the probe to make a two-dimensional section (ultrasonic scan plane) to be ultrasonically scanned pass over the central axis of a blood vessel to be diagnosed (target blood vessel) while observing the image obtained by ultrasonically scanning the two-dimensional section including the target blood vessel, and stores a plurality of images corresponding to a plurality of phases in a cine memory. The operator then selects an image optimal for IMT measurement from the stored images by visual check or the like, and sets a region of interest. This apparatus automatically or manually calculates an IMT based on the set region of interest. When considering the influence of the pulsation of the heart, the operator selects a plurality of images corresponding to the same phase by using ECG waveforms and the like, and then selects an image optimal for optimal IMT measurement.